Thursday, October 11, 2012

Henry Joseph Cartwright was born to our family on July 10th 2012. He tipped the scale at 5lbs 4oz.
He was born 6 weeks ahead of schedule, but his story started well before that. At our 20 week ultrasound we got the news that no parent wants to hear. Something was wrong. Our sweet baby was not moving his limbs as he should. We were sent to specialists who gave us a generalized diagnosis of Arthrogryposis. Really that term is just describing his symptoms of stiff joints. There was and still is no clear answer as to what caused this or why it happened as there is hundreds of causes.
Our world was turned upside down with this news. What would it mean for us. What kind of life would our little boy have. We worried and wondered but quickly we were blessed with peace.
We have already been blessed to have seen many miracles in Henrys life. The first was his birth itself. I was at a routine visit with the Fetal Treatment Center. I had an ultrasound and we discussed plans for his birth. A c-section was chosen based on safety for Henry. I mentioned my contractions I was having and the Dr suggested I head to the hospital just to get checked. I was annoyed at this seeming inconvenience but I went anyway. The contractions were showing that Henry was stressed. His heart rate was dropping occasionally with the contractions. The decision was made for us to stay over night as a precaution. Our other kids happily with their grandparents, Art and I tried to get settled for the night. A few minutes later the Dr came in to check me and they realized that I was starting labor. A c-section was ordered immediately. Within the hour my baby boy was born silent and blue wrapped in the cord multiple times. The Dr who delivered him spoke of how tightly the cord was wrapped around him and said multiple times "i've never seen anything like that." They rushed Henry away to be stabilized and I came to realize that had we waited much longer Henry would not have made it. We know that we had heavens help in getting him here alive.

First photo of the little man

My tiny baby was transported to Children's hospital and a new journey began.